Door opener or closer.



Nb. 744,552. PATENTED NOV. 17, 1903.

' T. L. HOW & B. T. WINKLER.

DOOR OPENER 0R CLOSER.

- APPLIGATIOKIILED'NOV. 29. 1902.

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PATE-NTED NOV. 17, 1903. v T. L. HOW & E. T. WINKLER.

DOOR OPENER 0R CLOSER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29. 1902.

I wi WITNESSES:

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' springs.

tic. 744,552.

U IT D STATES Fatented November 17, 1903.

PAT ENT OFFI E.

DOOROPENER OR- CLOS'ER.

siencmzohmonrofmni part of Letters Patent No. 744,552idated November 17,1903. Applicatien filed November 29, 1902. Serial No. 133,294. (Nomodel.)

being had to the accompanying drawings, and

to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

' Our present invention relates to doorsprings, and more particularlyto'that class of door springs known as lever door- The object of ourinvention is to provide an improved spring which caii be 'so adjusted asto close or open the door to which'the same is applied and which iscapable also of adjustment to retain the door atany interme-' diatepoint in its'rotation', whether'the spring is set to open or to closethe same or whether the spring is untensioned.

Further objects of ouririvention are to pro-f vide many improved detailsof structure fully described herein and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference-numerals refer to like parts, and in'which- Figure 1 is a view of our improved lever door-spring, showing aportion of a door to which the same is applied. Fig. 2 is a top view ofthe same, showing in dotted lines our device adjusted to retain the doorat an angle of forty-five'degrees to the doorsill when the spring is setto close the door.- Fig. 3 is a detail View of the spring-casing and theparts carried thereby. Fig. 4 is a vertical circular casing 3, open inthe rear thereof, having a perforated top and bottom and being alsoprovidedwith a peripheral slot 4 of suitable length at the base thereof.

5 is a spindle, the lower end of which passes through the perforation inthe bottom of the casing 3. The spindle 5 is provided with a squaredshoulder 6 and an annular flange 7 above said shoulder 6. (See Fig. 4.)The flange 7 fits loosely in the perforation in the top of the casing 3.At the top of w the spindle 5 is a perforated head 8, (see Fig. 5,dotted lines,)

adapted to receive the lever 9, which may be secured against movement inthe head 8 by the set-screwlO. Keyed at its upper end onto the squaredshoulder 6 of the spindle 5 ma drum 11, having an annular flange 12(shown in section, Fig.4) at its upper end and seating at its lower end'on a ratchet-wheel 13, loosely mounted upon the spindle 5 near thebottom of the casing 3. The ratchet-wheel 13 is provided with athickened central portion or hub 14, which fits loosely in the mouth ofthe drum 11 and acts as a guide to hold said drum 11in place.Surrgunding the drum 11 is a spiral spring 15, the lower end ofwhich issecured in perforation16 in the ratchet- 'wheel13 and the upper end ofwhich is secured in a like perforation 17in the flange 12 of the drum11.

The ratchet-wheel 13 is capable of revolu- Pivoted on the spindle 5between the wheel 13 and thebottom of the casing'3 opposite on itspivotal swing, at which point it engages said teeth through the slot 4.

20 is a projection or bracketcast on the bottom 'ofthe casing i3.Pivoted to the bracket 20 is a dog 21, which engages the teeth of thewheel 13 on either side of its pivotal point through the slot 4.

The outer end of the lever 9 passes through a collar 22, sustained bythe lever within a bracket 23, screwed to the door 2. The lever 9 passesthrough a slot 24 in the bracket 23,

such slot being of suitable length to permit partial rotation of thecollar 22. The lever 9 may be secured against movement through thecollar 22 by a set-screw 25, seated in a suitable perforation in thecollar 22 and impinging against the lever 9.

26 and 27 are a pair of stops slidably mounted on the lever 9. The stop26 is positioned between the bracket 3 and the bracket 23, and the stop27 is positioned on the lever 9 between the bracket 23 and the outer endof the lever. Each stop is provided with a perforated rubber disk on itsside adjacent the bracket 23.

The use of our improved device is as fol-.

lows: The casing 3 having been secured to the door-jamb 1 and theslotted bracket 23 having been secured to the door 2, the lever 9 ispassed through collar 22 in bracket 23, through head 8, and then securedin adjustment by set-screw 10. Having connected the casing 3 and bracket23 by adjustment of the lever 9 and it being desired to set the springto close the door whenever the same is opened, the door is first closed.Then the pawl 9 and dog 21 are set as shown in dotted lines. (See Fig.6.) The pawl 19 being in engagement with the ratchet-wheel13, the dog 21is drawn out of engagement therewith, and the lever 18 is thrown forwardin the direction of the dotted arrow (see Fig. 6) and the operationrepeated until the spring 15 has reached the desired degree ofcontraction, the dog 21 beingintermittently inserted to preventexpansion of the spring. Upon opening the door the spring 15, which hasbeen partially contracted by this operation, is sufficiently furthercontracted to, owing to the tendency of the contracted spring to expand,return the door to its closed position upon the same being released.

If it is desired to adjust the spring so that the door will be held openand if closed returned to its open position, the door is first opened.Then the pawl 19 and the dog 21 are set as shown in dotted lines, (seeFig. 6,) and the lever 18 and dog 21 are operated in the same manner asalready described, but in the direction of the full-line arrow, whichoperation causes expansion of the spring 15 to the desired degree. Uponclosing the door the spring 15 will be sufficiently further expanded toopen the door again when the same is released, owing to the tendency ofthe spring 15 to contract when the same has been expanded. If pawl 19and dog 21 are thrown out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet13, the spring 15 will then be untensioned, and any movement of the doorwill revolve the drum 11 and through spring 15 produce a like movementinthe ratchet 13, which always revolves with spring 15 unless dogged.

The change of angle between the door 2 and the lever 9 upon being openedor closed is compensated for by the oscillating collar 22 and the slot 21 in the bracket 23.

If it is desired to prevent the door closing beyond a certain point inthe rotation of the door when the spring 15 is tensioned to close thedoor, the stop 27 may be adjusted as, for example, shown in dottedlines, Fig. 2. If it is desired to prevent the door opening beyond acertain intermediate point, the stop 26 may be adjusted in like manner.Inasmuch as the lever 9 in opening or closing the door slides throughthe collar 22, it is evident that the set-screw 25 may be tightened andthe door thereby locked against movement.

Our invention is applicable to swinging windows as well as doors, and wedo not restrict ourselves to the exact details of structure herein shownand described, as many changes may be made without departing from thespirit of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, the following is what we claim asnew therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with thespring suitably connected to a door or the like, of means for expandingthe spring to throw the door in one direction and contracting the springto throw the door in the other direction, and means for holding thespring in either its expanded or its contracted condition.

2. The combination with the lever, of a spring connected at one end withthe lever, a ratchet-wheel connected to the other end of the spring, asecond lever, a reversible pawl carried by the second lever and adaptedto engage with the ratchet to expand or contract the spring, and meansfor holding the spring either in its contracted or its expandedcondition.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with arotatablymounted spindle, a spring rigidly connected to said spindle,and means adapted to contract or expand said spring, of a lever rigidlysecured at its inner end to said spindle, a bracket at the outer end ofsaid lever and a rotary connection between said lever and bracket.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination With arotatablymounted spindle, a drum keyed to said spindle, a spring mountedon the drum and having one of its ends secured thereto, a ratchet- Wheelloosely mounted on said spindle and engaging the other end of saidspring and means for rotating the ratchet-wheel in either direction, ofsuitable connection between the spindle and the door to be operated.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with arotatablymounted spindle, a drum keyed to said spindle, a spring mountedon the drum and having one of its ends secured thereto, a ratchetwheel,loosely mounted on the spindle and engaging the other end of saidspring, a lever pivoted to the spindle, and a reversible pawl pivoted tothe lever and adapted to engage the ratchet-wheel, ofa suitableconnection between the spindle and the door to be operated.

6. In an apparatus of the character de scribed, the combination with acasing, a spindle rotatably mounted in said casing, a drum keyed to thespindle, a spring mounted on the drum and having one of its ends securedthereto, a ratchet wheel loosely mounted on the spindle and engaging'theother end of the spring, a lever pivoted to the spindle, a reversiblepawl pivoted to the lever and engaging the ratchet-wheel,-a reversibledog pivoted to the casing and en gaging the ratchet-wheel, and aperforated head,

at the top of said spindle, of a lever adapted to be connected to thedoor to be operated and engaging the perforation in the head, and aset-screw seated in the perforated head and impinging the lever.

7. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with adoor-lever, of a spindle adapted to be rigidly secured to said lever, ofa drum keyed to said spindle, a spring mounted on the drum and havingone of its ends secured thereto, of a ratchet-wheel loosely mounted onthe spindle and having a thickened central portion or hub adapted to fitloosely in the mouth of said drum, said ratchet-wheel engaging the otherend of said spring, and means adapted to rotate said ratchet-wheel.

8. In a door opening and closing apparatus,

the combination of a perforated oscillating collar, means securing thecollar to the door, a lever passing through the collar, a set-screwseated in the'collarimpinging said lever, with means operating thelever.

9. In a door opening and closing apparatus, the combination of aperforated oscillating collar, means securing the collar to the door, alever passing through the collar, a set-screw seated in the collarimpinging the lever, with a spring adapted to operate said lever andmeans releasing the spring tension.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

THOMAS L. HOW. EHREGOTT T. WINKLER. Witnesses:

A. M. EVANS, E. G. CLABKSON.

